Abnormal Is Eternal
by TheYellowTrianglesGalore
Summary: A long while it's been for the two siblings indeed, but now, they live in Gravity Falls permanently. Facing new monsters, allies or foes, meeting new people, friends or rivals; it's what the both of them expected, but things get weird. Weirder than usual. Follow the Pines twins through high school, heartbreak, resolution, mystery, and an abnormal friend who may never be understood.
1. Chapter 1: New and Beautiful

**Chapter 1: New and Beautiful**

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 **(REUPLOADED DUE TO MY UNACCESSABLE ACCOUNT!PLEASE FOLLOW THIS NEW ACCOUNT IF YOU LIKE ABNORMAL IS ETERNAL! THE ORIGINAL ACCOUNT IS NOW INACTIVE, PROBABLY FOREVER)other than that, hi peoples!**

 **Author's Notes: Hello, hello peoples! Like many writers say, this is our first fanfic, yes, this is being written by two people, and I will say this now, in future chapters, there might be blood and brutal scenes and perhaps sexual themes, but I'm sure that sexual themes will only come if you, the readers chant for a ship, which is why this is rated T, for reasons you may predict *wink wink* that there would be violence, and NO, there will not be shipping of a canon character and my fan characters I have put into this story, UNLESS, LISTEN, UNLESS, everyone or the vast majority wishes to see two characters get together, so if you DO have a ship you want to see or multiple ships, please do comment them so I can see. And I have some in mind. Ships that I will input are Dipcifica. I don't ship it personally myself but it's hinted at in my story, but so far in my plans for this story, I don't plan for it to become canon (for this fanfic). Anyways, I truly hope you enjoy! (This author's note was WAY too long)**

 **(Chapters: 1/?)**

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 **(Dipper's POV)**

I couldn't believe how long it's been.

It's been about 4 years since our first arrival in that…marvelous yet sinister place, full of mystery and still so many things to be discovered.

Gravity Falls, Oregon, the most mysterious place ever. Or, that's what I think at least, due to my experiences of this town. Things like gnomes that dress up as teenagers for a queen and live dinosaurs! Yep, they're still alive, you dino lovers. Go wild with your enthusiastic screams.

Enough with the cryptic messages though. Let me explain why we're back at this supposed "sinister" and mysterious place. And also who "we" are. My name is Dipper Pines, a usually quiet and adventurous 16 year old male, alongside my jumpy and sweet twin sister, Mabel Pines, who is 16 as well, if you couldn't guess from us being twins. Even though Mabel is older than me by about 5 minutes but that doesn't matter as of appearance wise. If it was a year difference, sure. A couple of months? Yeah, agreed again to a certain extent, but 5 minutes? Nah. Yet, it doesn't seem to be the case with my sister, as she believes those minutes DO so very importantly matter on who the alpha is or whatever the hell she believes. As you should've assumed, Mabel likes to tease me a lot, mainly about being so submissive as a pre-teen but I do know that she is jealous of my academic skills and other things, like how I am envious of her being able to make friends so easily and how she can stay joyful during the most threatening situations and make it out alive. Like, how do you even stay happy when a giant troll monster that can turn people into stone with ONE stare is destroying your business?! Ugh, enough with the rambling.

We we're back in Gravity Falls, not because of summer, like we usually would be visiting for but because of the school year. Our parents started believing us about our previous adventures back on our first year in Gravity Falls, especially with our great uncles, Stanley and Stanford, them being coincidentally twins as well, proving it by showing them some creatures back at the end of our 2nd summer visit. And due to that, and our maturing age, they saw that we were independent enough and strong enough to live in Gravity Falls, and stay there even for our school years and other summers to come. I can say myself that we have matured, at least in retrospect of our past visits. Our parents said that they would join us in Oregon after the first school year, with a new house to live in, and all the things you could imagine being transported for moving. And of course we'd still have some form of contact with our parents over this year. Wouldn't it just be irresponsible? Then again, they both agreed on keeping me and my twin sister in this town for ANOTHER year, with barely any contact, despite hearing all the news about Gravity falls' abnormalities. 'Fake news' they said and believed. Back to my explanation though.

Today is our first day going to a newly built high school, and despite how anxious I can be about upcoming things, especially with new people, I was EXCITED for this! I couldn't wait to see everyone again and tell them the news about us staying in Gravity Falls for now on! I couldn't wait to find more people like me in this strange town! And because it's the school year, families will be coming back from their vacation outside of Gravity falls, so it ensures new faces. I know that my usual self wouldn't be as jumpy as Mabel for a new school year, but as mentioned before, we're spending it in Gravity Falls. And despite the events that have damaged me from our travels, this was still my favorite place to be in. Besides, it IS a hotbed for the super natural, and I love things that are mysterious. Except for one mysterious thing,

As much as Gravity Falls says that there is nothing to see here, there are certainly the most mesmerizing and amazing forms of life you will ever see! Back to the follow events though, me and my sister are currently sitting on a bus, travelling to the new Timberwood High that was opened last year, meaning that there would certainly be some familiar faces. I'm sure that Wendy and her friends would be going there for their final year of high school, and despite it being their final year, it was okay! It's better than no school year with the coolest people I've gotten to know. I look to my left to see that Mabel was brushing out her hair again, holding a purple band around her wrist, ready to tie it up in a ponytail. I was currently looking out the window, thinking about all the possibilities and events that could happen this school year. Sitting on the cushions of the bus seat, smooth and leathery, with the perfectly clean crystalline windows that make everything look crystal clear. It's certainly déjà vu from my previous travels to Gravity Falls. As we were passing by the trees, we could see some of the gnomes and other creatures waving at us, yelling something at us. By the motions of their lips and the slightly muffled voices, I definitely heard they say 'Good luck on your first day!' It seems like they knew.

Ever since Weirdmageddon, it's been hard for me to get back up on my feet and metaphorically stay standing. I'm sure that if YOU saw giant heads with one giant arm that eat humans alive and flying eyebats, that you would definitely be cautious in most situations and feel stressed for a lot of the time. Then again, I don't even know why I'm so stressed. All of it is gone. We've barely encountered monsters or in more light terms to make them seem as innocent as they truly are; creatures, that would threaten us. At least in my case exploring and hunting for anomalies either alone or travelling with Mabel, Ford, Wendy, or anyone else. I could feel the bus we were travelling on slowing down, arriving at our destination. I looked back at Mabel, about to ask if her she was ready to go, since she was brushing her hair out earlier, and I saw she already had her ponytail in and was standing up with her backpack around her shoulder.

"You gonna get up or what, Dipstick?" Mabel asked playfully, motioning to get my ass off the bus seat. "O-oh, yeah, of course" I stutter, grabbing my backpack and standing up. Mabel and I start walking towards the exit, but in front of us are two girls. That's weird since I remember Mabel and I being the only two students on this bus, because we live at the Shack, particularly far from casual neighborhoods in Gravity Falls.

The two girls walked off and so did me and my sister. I looked up to see the big logo. "WELCOME TIMBERWOOD FRESHMEN" it read. That seems like a very fitting name for a school in a place like Gravity Falls, a place full of trees and forest like biomes. I really wouldn't be surprised if this school gets possessed and comes to life. If so, there's it's journal name! "Timberwood". As I'm lost in thought, I hear Mabel make a squeaky noise, in which I quickly whip my head in her direction, and she was running towards two familiar faces, Candy Chiu and Grenda Grendinator.

"CANDY, GRENDA!" Mabel yelled, at the top of her lungs, dashing over to her "people" in which she quickly bear hugged the two of them. "MABEL!" they yelled in unison as they hugged Mabel back with their excited smiles. At least Mabel has her two best friends right away. I smile and snicker under my breath at the sight of Mabel's happiness, but apparently I was unaware that I was just standing there in between the crowd, or rightfully so, groups of people travelling across the wide sidewalk leading to the entrance of the school, being an obvious obstacle, and with me being an obvious dumb-shit, I had someone bump into me. I didn't turn my head just yet to see who it was, mainly because they spoke first. "Oh! Sorry! I wasn't watching here I was going!" I heard the familiar voice speak.

Wait, only one person has that voice. I quickly spun myself around, not knowing what to say, so I just asked, "Pacifica?" And there she was, wearing the llama sweater Mabel gave to her and with her hair in a pony tail.

"Dipper!" she exclaimed, as she quickly hugged me in delight. I of course hugged back, since I haven't seen her in a while. Her family had been away in Europe for the two previous summers, so I didn't have any contact with her. "I wouldn't expect you to be here, Dipper!"

"Well, heheh, here I am!" I exclaimed, as we both laughed it off. Mabel and her two best friends came over, giggling. "Mabel, what's so funny?" I ask, giving a tone that expresses my obvious feeling of annoyance. Mabel stopped snickering, but Candy and Grenda proceeded to continue holding in their laughter. It didn't seem like humorous laughter but fangirl laughter. "Oh nothing really, Mason! You just seem to have a nice relationship with Pacifica" Mabel said, making her classic teasing face. "Wait, it's not like that!" I blurt out, objecting the whole idea. And I thought today would be normal but NOPE, Mabel has to still act so childish. Then again, I can't really blame her. I mean, I still act anxious a lot of the time.

"Dipper, it's okay. Their jumpy girls, remember? Just ignore them." Pacifica has really grown out of her stuck up shell and has become really encouraging, and it certainly goes to show that anyone can change. "Th-thanks, Pacifica" I reply. "Anyways, I'll be heading to my first class now. Our first class is going to begin in 30 minutes but, I'd rather be early for roll-call" Pacifica states, as she starts walking into the building. "BYE PACIFICA!" Mabel yells out, waving at her and Pacifica waves back, sweetly smiling.

I look back up at the giant letters, displaying the school's name. They look perfectly new, along with everything else I've seen so far from this campus. Goodness, I can't wait for this year to begin with the bang it deserves.

"You are like TOTALLY IN LOVE WITH HER!" I hear Grenda yell with her booming voice. In response, Mabel playfully slaps Grenda's cheek, motioning her to "STAHP".

"Anyways Dipstick, I think I'll be heading to class early as well!" Mabel states, as she picks her backpack up off the cement, from taking it off to hug Candy and Grenda previously. "Oh, and remember!" she cheered, as she stuck a pink snicker onto my cheek that said "Have an Ext-roar-dinary Day!" and had a T-Rex on it. I just rolled my eyes. "I'll see you in our 3rd period" I casually inform Mabel, assuring that we'll meet up again soon. "Alright, my lil' bro-bro!" she yelled, running into the building, waving goodbye to me, with her two friends trailing behind. Maybe I should go to my first class early as well. But, I doubt that we would get in big trouble for being late for the very first day and if so, these teachers and the county needs to remind themselves of the transition of vacation to school. You certainly can't move that fast, especially as minors.

I decide not to go to class early, mainly because it would be the best to get comfortable and be knowledgeable of my surroundings. And since I'm on my own, I suppose I can explore this school now without any form of interruption right?

* * *

I've been exploring the school campus for about 15 minutes. Simple math would show that I have 15 minutes left until my first period. I'll take 10 more minutes exploring and then 5 getting to my class.

As I'm walking through one of the hallways, I see someone walking my same direction and they go by a corner, disappearing from my sight.

Why would someone else be in this area? Judging by the status of this area, which is shown on the school map, showing which areas are inhabited, no teachers have taken these rooms. These are just storage rooms. Maybe someone is causing trouble…

With that thought, I followed the mystery person. I could now see them with my full sight. A color pallet of yellow, black, and blue. Those exact colors of that monster…Bill Cipher. That would be too cliché for him to come back, and especially on my return to Gravity Falls. Besides, he was erased within Stan's mind. Right?

This person also has long brunette hair, pushed into the neck of their sweater. They seem to have a female figure as well. Bill isn't a female nor would have brunette hair, I would think, and neither do I imagine that an event with Bill returning would coincidentally coincide with my first day of permanently staying in Gravity Falls. Well, both my first day and Mabel's first day. The supposed girl stops walking and walks into a room.

I keep following them and I see that they kept the door open. They're sitting on one of the ledges near the window, with their backpacks set to the side, looking out of the glossy window at the waving pine trees. The room is empty except for chairs stacked in the far corner of the room and one table. Other than that, everything is bare. Even the chalk board and windows are perfectly clean, like this room was just made. I guess it sorta was, considering how the top floors were the rooms that needed to be built lastly for the construction of this school. At least I'd think.

Maybe they are peaceful? I take another step just to attract her attention to me, in which my gaze is met with hazel eyes.

"…Hi" she speaks.

"Hi…" I respond.

There was a long moment of silence between us, neither of us having the slightest spite of thought to continue the new found conversation. I didn't exactly want thus to end so awkwardly and on a low note, so I made the "first move". "What are you doing here…exactly?" I stutter. It wasn't much to say, but why not a good way of introducing myself by acting like a paranoid little shit? Haha, funny joke.

She replies with "Oh...I normally come here every morning and the majority of nights." I think of what to reply with, saying "So you've been going to this school in the past, I assume?"

"Yep, I've been here before. This is my final year, but I skipped the other 3 years because I'm advanced, so 12th grade to be exact. I expect you to be a newbie, judging by how you're just wondering around here, right?"

"Y-yeah…"

Advanced student? Maybe this is a person similar to me. "Well, back to your first question. I just stay up here, gazing out the window, thinking and procrastinating about my future. Not to sound deep and edgy or anything, but in simple wording, I come up here to relax"

There is another moment of silence until the girl speaks again.

"I found out about this place last summer during last year's summer during the final plans of construction for this school. So I just decided to come here when wanting to think….and already by what I've said, I'd imagine that you can conclude that I'm independent, since I deal with things on my own" she claims. "Yeah, very….yes" I stutter out. This person has a really open mind. "Anyways, I'll be here for a while...well, until class starts"

"O-okay" I end the conversation, and walk out of the room. At least it wasn't another case of some creature disguised as a human, or by what I can tell, I believe it isn't. As I am heading towards the turning corner, I hear something move out of the previous room and I see the girl again. "Also, my name is Iris!" she shouts out, with her backpack back on over her shoulder and she starts walking down the other set of stairs, opposite of my stairs, to her class.

"Oh…OH! My name is Dipper, and nice to meet you!" I yell back and right after the bell rings. That conversation WAS short but, hey, don't expect a speech given to a stranger. I snap out of thought and I remember that the bells had just rung.

It's time for class, Mason.

I quickly start running to my class. How long was I even talking to this person? It seemed like such a short moment, and not in the time span of 15 minutes. I stop thinking about that thought and focus on getting to class on time.

* * *

 **(during a class period)**

I'm currently sitting in my biology class, jotting down notes from a very slow paced lesson. I've already noted to myself about bio-molecules and that this place is slow and would probably me the most boredom. Ugh, if only I could get out of here! But I really don't want to hurt my track record for skipping class before it even starts or literally just bailing during a lesson. That's just rude, isn't it? Yet, I wouldn't be surprised if some kids have ditched class despite how "rude" it is.

Judging by how much this teacher notices from the class, I'm sure he wouldn't even notice me leaving, and to prove so, right now, one student is eating paper, for everyone to see. Yeah, that's how bad. For most of the time, this teacher has their back turned so, maybe I could bail? No! Dipper, don't do those things! This is also one of the teachers who randomly pops out questions to see if someone is paying attention! It wouldn't be so bad to leave, though, right?

I'm sure Mabel would skip a boring ass class? No, Dipper quit thinking about it! Ugh, why am I so attracted ti mischief now!?

I mentally say _screw it_ and I stand up from my desk and start walking towards the door, as literally every student isn't even noticing, and probably because I sit near the back and everyone is messing around, minding their own business.

As I walk towards the exit, I hear Mr. Widdom, the teacher, speak, but not turning his back. "Anyone care to explain what that noise is?" he says and everyone shuts up. Now I'm just standing right next to the exit in a stance of opening the door. WELL SHIT.

I quickly sprint out of the room and no one notices me. Oh, and thank goodness they haven't implanted cameras in every god damn corner of the halls yet! I don't need to be known as the kid who tries to escape biology, then again, this class is death defying. I stop running and I take a minute to rest. _You could of just casually walked out, Dip-shit._ Ugh! I know! I know! I mentally curse to myself. I mentally slap myself to get out of insulting myself. I start travelling again, walking through the halls. What place could I possibly just, you know, simply relax at?

Maybe that room Iris was in? No, good shot though. Those doors get closed during schools hours as I saw when running to first period. Maybe I can just hang out in the hallway near my biology class so I can quickly grab my stuff and book it when the bell rings, not looking suspicious. I sit up against the wall, under a window. Due to the angle of the window, sunlight goes right over my head, so I won't be burned alive. I don't wear my hat anymore so it WOULD be easier to get fried.

As I'm thinking, I suddenly hear a familiar voice. "What are you doing here?"

I get startled at the voice, to look at my left and I see Iris. "Oh, h-hey Iris" I stutter out, trying not to sound awkward and startled from before. "I-I just decided to..um"

"Skip class?"

"YEE" I blurt out and immediately slap my hand over my lips, with my expression turning into fear of how I've just met my ticket to getting in trouble. "Eh, don't worry about it Dipper" she says.

"EEH?" I reply with, still a little scared and panicked. "Why do you think that I'm out here? I'm skipping class too" she says. 'Wait, but don't you have advanced classes? You'd definitely need to be there!" I persuade. By what I can tell, advanced classes are more strict and shove the fact of 'Doing your work' down your throat a lot more than average classes would.

"I already know what they are talking about. They're just recapping what we learned last year"

"Oh…well, then I guess you have a reason. Heheh" I laugh out, trying to lighten the mood

"And I guess you do too?" Iris leans against the wall, looking down at me. "Yeah, my biology class is utterly boring. I can't even stand it!" I over exaggerate. "Hey, it's find to cop-out of things that cause you stress. Just be sneaky about it" she finalizes and decides to relax as well, as I can tell she is thinking now.

I'm actually glad that I've met Iris. And maybe I can introduce Mabel to her, but hopefully Mabel doesn't act too weird around her.

* * *

 **(Mabel's POV)**

I am currently walking with my two best friends, Candy and Grenda, through the crowded hallways to the lunchroom. So far, this day has been AMAZING! I've met so many people that are just like me who love giving dating advice, glitter, GRAPPLING HOOKS, and last but not least, shipping. I guess you could say that I've gained 15+ friend groups and 45+ friends today! I mainly found them in my drama class.

As I'm walking through the doorway into the GIANT, and I mean GIANT lunchroom behind Candy and Grenda, I hear someone call my name. "OH, DIPPER!" I yell back, seeing him running towards us. More specifically, to me, slowing down the closer he gets.

"H-hey Mabel…ha..." he seems to be breathing heavily, as he stops running and puts his palms on his knees, holding himself up from dying of exhaustion. "Hey Bro-Bro, take your time to speak. Don't rush yourself, okay? Did you sprint here or something?" I rationally ask him. He nods his head in response anyways. Dipper must be in a big hurry. Maybe he saw something? OH! What if he MET someone! MAYBE PACIFICA ASKED HIM OUT, ERMAGAHD, IS THS SOME SORT OF MYSTERY LIKE QFENUCGIMSHEXHIE-

"Mabel?" I snap out of my pink and sparkly day dreaming to listen to him. "Oh…um, yeah Dip-Dip? Why were you in such a rush?" His breathing slows down and finally says "I-I'll tell you the entire story once we're in the cafeteria, okay?"

He seems a lot more calmed down. At least it isn't anything like a monster or Bill for that matter. If so, he would of definitely told me right away, and not wait until we're in the lunchroom with MANY people, where anyone can butt in on the conversation. Then again, I haven't encountered any stereotypes yet that would perform such an action, to be a douche or to just be looking for info to claim as their own.

I'm sure I'll meet some soon. Some like past-Pacifica, snooty, stuck-up, and self-absorbed, and weirdos like past-Dipper, who are quiet, never talk, and are usually harassed but the "upper-class". Before I know it, Dipper is talking to someone else. A brunette girl wearing a yellow sweater and yellow stockings with black outlines.

"Dipper, who's this?~" I ask, teasing him, getting my shipper persona on. "Just someone I met upstairs. Mabel, meet Iris. Iris, meet Mabel" Dipper proudly states. This Iris girl slightly waves at me. "Hi." "HI!" I respond doing the exact opposite, erratically waving, happily smiling, and she kept a straight face in response..

"So, is she gonna sit with us?"

"She didn't ask. She COULD have a friend group waiting for her. Right, Iris?"

"I do have ONE friend who would expect me to go and find her but I'm sure she'll find me on her own. And on the topic of a friend group, I'm a generally introverted person who prefers small groups. But hey, nothing wrong with having two people join a group of two or three" she finalizes.

Oh, perfect for Dip-Dot. I think.

"Great! I'd love to get to know you better!" I blurt out in happiness but obvious mischievousness. "Yeah, same here" Dipper says alongside my rather expressive statement.

"Heh, thanks you too. You certainly aren't like the others." Iris sneers, as she looks out upon everyone in the cafeteria through the mostly glass doors, in which she scoffs in disgust. "Others?" I ask myself, even though Iris heard me and I obviously wanted her to explain. Maybe Iris is talking about stereotypes here? Well didn't I predict that? This IS a high school after all, filled with angsty acne kids and girls who have painted their face. I never really understood why people just NEED to be accepted by everyone. I mean, not everyone is going to like you.

I don't know, I guess I'm just thinking in retrospect of my past experiences. Everyone has their people, and it seems like I may have found another "peoples" to be my people.

Jeez, too many peoples. I like it! P expresses many fun words, like pink and pony and poppin' and-

I snap back to reality to see Iris explaining these "other" people.

"They're the common high school stereo types. Sometimes I feel like I'm the only one who can point out their toxic attitudes and how they are acting so cliché. I think I'm an average girl but…with you two around, I feel like I actually have friends who are the same, which makes us our own genre…and you two know what's right and wrong"

"Aw! Thank you!" I reply, lightening the mood. "Then again," she speaks. "Three people won't be enough to stop every person who acts so…egotistical and to encourage those who are shy to stand up to said egotistical people…"

Iris sighs and walks into the cafeteria with me and my twin trailing behind her.

"I'm sure you two have encountered those types of people, right?" Iris asked, as she sat down at a side table, where a few backpacks were already set down, showing that perhaps this is her friend group. I had to think about that for a minute. Pacifica WAS a snooty brat, and Candy and Grenda were the alone misfits but not anymore, so, in the context of knowing those stereotypes in present day, then no. And I state exactly that.

"In the example of now, as of present-day, no, but in the past, yeah. And the same goes for Dippin-Dot"

"Well, at least I know you have experience with those toxic people"

Just as I'm ready to change the subject into something light-hearted, Iris turns her head to look at another girl. A short girl wearing a turquoise vest and short bobbed hair, along with purple glasses. Now that I think about it, Iris and that newly seen girl were the two girls that Dipper and I saw back on the bus.

That bus only takes students to school that live near the Shack. Maybe Iris and her friend live nearby?

"Oh, hey Erin" Iris says, as this said "Erin" walks to the table and sits down next to Iris, still on her phone, playing a game. "Hey, Iris" she happily replies. Iris looks back at me and Dipper and suddenly realizes what she should do. "Oh, um, Dipper, Mabel, this is Erin Turquoise. My best friend since Kindergarten"

"Nice to meet you!" I quickly exclaim. Goodness, I've certainly met a lot of new people today, and a lot more than I expected from a town I've been in for over the span of 3 to 5 months 3 times. I'd imagine that I would have met everyone. Perhaps this school was made to have new kids who moved to Gravity Falls to have some place to continue their school lives.

That WOULD make sense.

"Anyways, if you two have any place you want to sit and have lunch together, you can go and do what you want now" Iris states, as she goes back to talking to her friend Erin. Something about Gravity Falls RedBox and renting a movie to watch tonight.

Hmm….rent a movie.

"Hey!" I say, slamming both the palms of my hands and my silver lunch tray on a table, startling Dipper and Erin. "Did I hear rent a movie?" I ask, intentionally showing curiosity, as I AM interested. This could be the perfect way to know both Erin and Iris better. "Yeah, tonight we were going to rent either "Heathers", an adult themed movie, or the live action "Beauty and The Beast". As already said, we're still deciding between the two" Erin speaks with her soft and shy voice, as she doodles little unicorns on her maroon colored notebook.

I slam my hands on the table again, startling only Dipper this time, to show enthusiasm. "EVERYONE has seen 'Beauty and The Beast;! Let's watch that adult movie! OH! And you can come over to our home to watch it with us!"

"R-really?" Erin asks, shyly but clearly excited about me putting up the offer. "Whoa, h-hold up, Mabel" I hear Dipper object. "I'm not sure if Stan and Ford will let us watch adult movies like that. I mean, unless there are just a FEW adult jokes"

"There are a lot of sexual jokes, such as pulling on dicks and being mentally insane" Iris blatantly chirps out.

"OKAY, that answers my concerns" Dipper says. "Mabel, I'm PRETTY sure they won't let us watch movies like that" he finishes his claim. "I'm sure Stan would let us. And judging by how this visit is all about maturity, I'm sure Grunkle Ford would let us watch it too" I persuade.

Dipper stutters for a second, raising his index finger as a gesture, right before weighing it back down, and being silenced."Now that you mention it, that's a very good reason" "What did I tell you, hmm?" I proudly state. God, I LOVE being right, and especially when it comes to "competition" with Dippin'-Dot.

"Sounds good, I guess we'll meet you at your house tonight?" Erin asks. "Yep!" I cheerfully reply.

Just as I tell Dipper that we can go now and find a table to leave Iris and Erin to talk, I see Iris nudge at Erin and she pushes up her glasses. "Oh, also! Your address?"

"There's no need for that. We live in the Mystery Shack" Dipper answers. "THE ONE AND ONLY" I pop into the conversation. "Good, that makes remembering much easier! Anyways, I guess we'll see you soon" Erin waves us off, still doodling little unicorns on her notebook perfectly without even looking. SUCH TALENT!

Today was certainly a good first day, if I do say so myself! Yet, I don't know if that's the same instance for Dip-Dip.

* * *

 **(Dipper's POV)**

Later that afternoon, I'm walking through the ivory hallways, filled with both short and tall, male and female, blond and red-headed, all different people, speedwalking through the hall, wanting to get to their homes as fast as possible. Now that I think about it, I didn't see Wendy at all today, but I DID see the vast majority of Wendy's friends. Or at least the ones that I have met. Maybe I was just so distracted that I didn't keep in mind to look for her. Wendy's friends DID call for me first when seeing me through the halls when moving from period to period. I decide to take a minute waiting for the hallways to clear up so I can get to the bus that travels back to the Shack without getting lost in the waves of people that keep on crashing down.

I lean up against a wall, pulling out my phone to see if Mabel is wondering where I am. No messages. Good, I'm not late. Supposedly. I doubt Mabel would forget about my existence, despite how weird she can be. As I am leaning against the wall, I feel as if someone is staring at me. I think I've felt this exact aura before. I can truly feel someone nearby. Just watching.

But who? I blink once and look around. I still have that feeling. I blink again and see a shadow over me. The hallways are cleared and are very empty, so I can easily see it. I look at the rest of the shadow on the floor to see a triangle, with me in the middle. I blink multiple times and shake my head. It was gone. Returning to Gravity Falls must be getting to my head.

Just illusions.

Just hallucinations.

Nothing more.

I hear footsteps down hallway, to see Iris running down the hallway, trying to put up a pony-tail, but once she sees me, she stops running. "Oh, hey Dipper!" she says, as she completely stops.

'H-hey Iris. Are you late or something?" I ask. Wouldn't she take the bus home? I mean, I saw her and I think Mabel saw her too with Erin this morning while being transported. "No, I'm not. Thanks for asking though" she says, shoving her hands into her sweater pockets. At least I sort of know her schedule now. She continues with " I just walk home after school and I don't want to be late home. If you know what I mean. I kinda have a time limit until I get in trouble."

"Don't worry. I totally understand." I reciprocate. "Anyways, I really need to get to the bus now. I'm sure Mabel is waiting for me" I say, and just as I do, I get a text from Mabel saying "The bus is gonna leave in 3 minutes". "Oh! And in 3 minutes the bus is going to leave sooooooooooo…BYE!" I shout, as I start running down the hallway, knowing that I won't be late.

"We'll meet again." I hear her say.

"Don't know where.

Don't know when.

But I know we'll meet again, some sunny day"

I'm sure I'll be seeing her again and hopefully in more of a peaceful manner. Not thinking about that triangle.

* * *

 **Author's Notes:(WE WILL POST THE REUPLOAD OF CHAPTER 2 NEXT WEEK DUE TO KEEPING POPULARITY AND TIME TO WORK ON OTHER CHAPTERS) END OF CHAPTER 1. I will say this now, this didn't take much for me and my friend and we're planning to write longer chapters in the future. Hopefully you enjoyed this and if you have any suggestions or questions, please do comment them. We'll try and answer right away. ALSO, WE WILL TRY OUR BEST TO POST A CHAPTER EVERY WEEK, MAYBE EVEN EARLIER.**

 **REALITY IS AN ILLUSION**

 **THE UNIVERSE IS A HOLOGRAM**

 **BUY GOLD, BYE PEOPLES!**


	2. Chapter 2: All Is Unknowing

**Chapter 2: All Is Unknowing**

* * *

 **Author's Notes: Hello again! My friend and I were really surprised to see many people take interest in the concept of this story, especially in the time span of 1 day! And even though the summary you first see when looking at the story, this story is going to have a lot of more plot concepts that will happen other than the mysterious Iris, and Dipper and Mabel surviving through following events, like new monsters. Anyways, we would like to thank everyone who viewed this and will view this one! Just a quick recap, Dipper and Mabel invited Iris and Erin over to watch their rented movie and Dipper mainly wanted Iris over to know her more and Mabel wanted both of them in order to know both of them better. Also, if you have any comments or criticism, please do tell us. Enjoy Chapter 2!**

* * *

 **(Third Person POV)**

Dipper sits in the attic, laying on his cushiony bed, examining the Journals again; to see if anything had changed. He was certainly paranoid about some cryptic messages randomly appearing in the journals, which would relate to more mysteries. He really DID mean it when he said that returning to Gravity Falls was really getting to his head. The boy lifts his head up from his pillow, rubbing his fairly tired eyes and looking over at his alarm clock, seeing that he had only been reading, or in more accurate terms, close to "ravaging" through the journals for 30 minutes.

He sighs in disappointment, which is targeted at himself. He knows that he is acting ridiculous. _Maturity, they said. YEAH, like I have that_ , he thinks to himself. Dipper sets his head back down into his pillow, trying to find his previous position, in which he found as comfortable.

As he continues to skim through the pages, he keeps a normal and so very blank expression, seeing how even getting to checking Journal 3, he hasn't found any changes, and he doubts he'll find any soon. Dipper looks over at his night-stand to see his Pinetree hat, and then he sighs. Wendy had given it back to him on their 3rd summer visit, seeing how they'd be coming back. And it would be reasonable to trade hats back and forth every time they visit and leave. Yet Dipper kept his Pinetree hat after their third summer visit due to the news of them moving to Gravity Falls permanently the following year. _Hopefully I'll see her soon..._

Dipper closes the journal and groans in boredom. He turns his head slightly to be in full sight of the door that leads to the rest of the attic, being reminded about where Mabel currently is and wondering when she'll get back. _Mabel said that she met some guy during the school day earlier and they're on a date or some bullcrap_ , he noted to himself to remember. It was already 8:00 at night so he was hoping that the gnomes weren't trying to make Mabel their queen again. Then again, what if that DID happen?

He glances at the triangle shaped window that is in between his bed and Mabel's bed, mainly to see how dark it was outside and to see how much of a light source you would possess if out this late. He sighs at the familiar shape. As much as he hates him and doesn't wish for threatening mysteries to be born once again, that could possibly harm others, just so he can have fun finding out those mysteries, as foul as it sounds, Dipper wants him back. There were so many things to do when he was around.

It sounds terrible but 'I miss him.'

The boy rubs his eyes, for some reason feeling tears. 'The hell…?' he whispers. 'Dipper, you know he's terrible' he mutters to himself. Back to the topic of Mabel being in trouble, perhaps by those gnomes, Dipper quickly gets up and grabs a shovel that Mabel hides under her bed, in which she said it would be used to "fight off any monsters" that break into the Shack. Just as he goes to the door leading to the rest of the attic and the stairs leading to the living room, he hears the main door that is set downstairs open and quickly closes. Dipper listens closer, putting his ear to the door and hears quick paced footsteps. That might be Mabel.

He then goes back to Mabel's bed and puts the shovel back. He quickly runs back to the door, opens it, and walks down the stairs. Meanwhile, as Mabel finalizes her organization of snacks to eat during the movie, Dipper comes into full view of Mabel and the stuff she brought back. "Mabel, what's with all the food?!" Dipper yells in surprise and confusion.

"For the movie, duh!" Mabel replies, tipping a mixture box of chips a bit to make it aligned with every other box. "I'm sure we won't eat this much while watching a probably 2 hour movie! This isn't a holiday!" Dipper blurts out in surprise at the sight. "Meh, whatever Dipper. It's for the better!" Mabel replies, walking back to the kitchen and bringing out a jug of Mabel Juice.

"Where did you even get all of this?" Dipper asks. As far as he's concerned, they didn't have that much food.

"Candy and Grenda helped me scavenge for treats after school. Why do you think I left to "Go meet a guy I like", especially so early?" Mabel states, putting the jug down on the T-Rex skull that sits next to the giant chair. "Because you fall in love with almost every guy you meet, that's why, Mabel' Dipper blatantly replies, knowing he's cornered her in this conversation.

Mabel just scoffs and rolls her eyes. "Well, we still got all the food so, yeah, we have no choice but to keep it" she states.

Dipper just sneers at Mabel and walks into the kitchen. "At least it isn't the food from here. Imagine explaining that to Grunkle Stan"

"That's exactly one of the reasons I went out to buy some, you genius!" Mabel laughs out as she stands up, adjusting her sweater. Just as she does, the doorbell rings. "I'LL GET IIIIIT!" Mabel sings out. Looks like they've arrived.

Once Dipper hears the door bell ring and Mabel opening the door, his personality changes from being frustrated with Mabel to being hopeful to getting to find more about Iris. And perhaps Erin. Mabel pokes her head through the kitchen doorway to look at Dipper. "They're here, Dip-Dip!" she says, smiling sweetly, knowing that Dipper is looking forward to tonight. Mainly because of Iris. Immediately, Dipper peaks out from the kitchen to see both Iris and Erin, wearing matching sweaters.

Dipper sees that Iris is wearing yellow again and becomes more cautious. I need to stop comparing her to him Dipper notes to himself, not wanting to ruin this movie night just because of a color. Besides, both Iris and Erin are wearing yellow so, more reasons to dismiss it as her favorite color.

"H-hey guys" Dipper says, giving off an obvious hint of anxiety in his voice. "I told you we would meet again, Dipper" Iris replies with. _Oh right, what she said earlier_ , Dipper remembers. _Why did she even make her wishes and her hopes of seeing me seem so cryptic? It was awfully specific_ , he continued his thinking.

"Anyways, I already got all the snacks and what not!" Mabel proudly states, puffing out her chest and putting her balled up fists to her hips, as well as moving herself to the side so the two visitors can see all the collected snacks in the living room. "Good to know. And, we got that movie" Erin says, lifting up a box with the "Heathers" VHS tape in it.

"YAS!" Mabel yells, excited to finally view an adult themed movie. "Hey Mabel?" Dipper asks. Before I can continue my statement, she answers exactly what he was going to ask. "Don't worry Dipper! I already asked both Stan and Ford. They said that they'll let us stay up tonight. Besides, tomorrow is Friday anyways! Thank goodness for a short first week!" Mabel cheers, lifting her arms into the air and swinging around the hanging sleeves of her sweater like a helicopter. _Well she just read my mind._

'Oh, right. A short week I forgot.' Dipper says to himself, quietly under his breath. Erin adjusts her glasses and looks around at the living room, some parts of the kitchen, etc. "You have a really nice home for a place that is conjoined with a famous Mystery museum and a gift shop" she says in awe, perhaps in comparison of where she lives. "Yeah, I have to agree with her on this one" Iris joins in, walking through the door way and stopping near the stairs, with a strange aura of concern following her as she stops by that area. Dipper supposes that she shakes it off, as she just continues what she was saying. "You certainly have yourselves a nice place."

"DAAAAW thanks you two!" Mabel chirps out, waving her hand back and forth as a gesture to being "flattered". Dipper just rolls his eyes at Mabel's bubbly personality. "Anyways, you wanna get to watching that movie?" Dipper asks, pointing over at the living room, showing signs of impatience. "Heck yeah!" Mabel blurts out, standing on her toes and exaggerating by wiggling her arms into the air, as of the previous action.

 _I'm gonna try my best to keep track of how many times Mabel wiggles her arms in the air, despite how stupid it sounds._

* * *

 **(Later that night)**

 **(Dipper's POV)**

I sit on the floor, next to the chair that Mabel and Erin are laying in, snacking on chips, as Iris sits on the opposite side of the chair, sipping on a soda can. I can tell that Erin and Mabel are getting tired. You'd think that watching a movie in silence with a couple of comments wouldn't make you THAT tired, right? Well, we didn't just watch a movie with making a couple of remarks ever so often.

Mabel randomly started playing airhorn remixes during the first part of the movie and we ended up dancing because, who doesn't like airhorns? Well, I guess some people don't. We just had fun. Oh! And we also found some left over illegal fireworks and set those off at the back of the shack, so we paused the movie multiple times. Like I said, we had fun.

Never once during this did I think about that triangle or any mystery for that matter.

So far, we had already eaten half of the snacks brought and I must say, Mabel has a good idea of what treats are. The floor was covered with wrappers and all sorts of drinks that were empty and completely dry.

I snap out of thought due to the sound of both Mabel and Erin being asleep, as you could hear their drowsy and soft breaths because the movie was at a fairly silent event. I didn't want the movie to disturb their sleep, so I just decided to pause. I reached for the remote and I do as said. I looked over at Iris, and she was still awake, looking at her phone. There's a long silence as she hasn't noticed that the movie was paused. "H-hey….Iris" I say, trying to get her attention.

She doesn't look at me, but I can see her expression grow with annoyance, like she's focusing. "I…Iris?" I ask again, lifting up the volume of my voice to possibly spark her focus to me this time. And it worked. She snaps her head up with wide eyes and she quickly turns her head to look at me. "O-oh...sorry…I was just thinking"

"No need to apologize. You have all rights to think whenever you want to" I respond with courtesy. I see her look back at her phone, she sighs, and turns it off. Or at least in rest mode. "Was there something you needed?" she asks. "Nothing is particular. I just wanted to inform you that Erin and Mabel are asleep, I paused the movie and it's only 9:55. Other than that, I didn't NEED anything" I say, lifting up one of my fingers for each things mentioned. "Thanks for telling me" she states, looking to the left, away from me.

What can I possibly do to pass time….and NOT waste it. There's got to be some way of using it wisely. Then, the idea hits me like a bullet.

"Can I show you something?" I casually ask, trying to keep my voice low, not wanting to wake up the two sleeping girls that are literally right next to us. Iris seems to hesitate for a minute and then her eyes light up. "Sure." She quickly says.

Most of the time, I have no idea what she is thinking, but I guess that doesn't matter. She's really relatable. I get up quietly, trying once again not to make noise and I successfully do so, immediately making it to the set of stairs leading to the attic. Iris glares up, knowing where we're going. She gets up as well, following me.

I start walking up the stairs, seeing that she is following. "Try and keep extra quiet, okay?" I ask, and she right away nods her head in response. We make it to the attic and the first thing I see is the one window, the shape of a triangle with a circle in the middle. I shake away the thought, not wanting him to interrupt this. Not like he is actually interrupting anything directly.

I speed walk into the room which has my side of the room and Mabel's side of the room. Once Iris walks in, I close the door, walk to under my mattress and I pull out Journal 3.

I see her look at it and her face lights up. I sit down on the floor and pat my hand next to me as a gesture for Iris to sit next to me, and she immediately comes over and sits next to me. She may be taller than me by 1 inch even while sitting, which at all isn't a towering height compared to my height, I still feel comfortable.

I begin with my explanation, whispering out an introduction. "I'm sure that you don't know what this is, as many people don't" I say, sliding my thumb against the pages. "But this is a journal that marks down all mysteries and abnormal sightings from this town."

I then open up the Journal, skimming through the pages, showing the different monsters. Despite how old these journals are, the pages are still feel very silky and smooth. "It may seem difficult to believe, but these things actually exist. The first anomaly that both my sister and I had ever encountered were gnomes, but they disguised as an edgy teenager to attract Mabel, and then we met more and more monsters after that. If I were to be honest, the creatures just don't stop appearing" I claim. Right before I speak again, I'm suddenly blasted in the face with an airhorn, knocking me back in surprise, dropping the journal.

"Hey dork, enough with your flaunting, okay?" Iris laughs out. I sit back up and laugh with her. I'm guessing Mabel gave her an airhorn. I grab the journal from my side, which is where it fell, and I hand it over to Iris, so she can look at the pages herself.

She, herself, starts looking through the journal. "How can someone find so many things and mark them down?" she asks. "Oh, my uncle made this, along with 2 other journals" I reply.

"You're related to this guy!? And there are more?" she asks in surprise. She really seems interested in this. Maybe we DO have things in common.

"Why do you think there is a three on this book?" I point out, lifting an eyebrow and giving a cocky smirk. She rolls her eyes, as I pointed out the obvious, in which she should of already concluded. "That's amazing" she continues, avoiding what just happened. "No wonder you love mysteries so strongly and are eager for more every day" she laughs out, still excited about the fact of being related to "The Author". Wait, how would she know that I want more mysteries?

"How did you know?" I ask, looking at her, in which she stops looking through the journal. 'Your sister told me a lot of things about you during the illegal firework show we did earlier. "How much did she tell you?!" I shout out, to be immediately silenced by Iris. "Remember, we need to be quiet" she says, lowering her voice.

"Oh…s-sorry" I reply, hiding my embarrassment. Iris laughs it off, not teasing me about it like Mabel would. As we start looking through the pages, we come across a certain page. The Bill Cipher page. Iris looks at it for a second and seems to lose interest after a couple of seconds. "You….don't know who that is, do you?" I ask.

She shakes her head, with a genuine expression of confusion and wonder.

"He….well...I'll start from the beginning" I start with a sigh.

"Mabel used to have this crush named Gideon Gleeful. Gideon was a very corrupt and manipulative child and his father owned a car dealer business and Gideon himself would hold magic shows, which would attract a lot of people. Due to the sales Gideon made, back when my other uncle, Stanley, was still the manager of the Mystery Shack, they became rivals.

"Gideon soon had a new plan to steal the contract signed to own the shack and in order to get it, he made a deal with as said, Bill Cipher."

I take a deep breath before weaving my way into the Bill part of the story. "Bill Cipher is a dream demon with many powers, which he uses for terrible reasons and his selfish desires. And…I've had a lot of experience with him" I state. I sigh again. This is really hard to do.

"Gideon made a deal with him so that he could go into my uncle's mind to find the code to the safe that the contract was in, and in return, Bill had Gideon as a puppet for his plans. So, my sister Mabel, one of my other friends who became the new Mystery Shack manager, and I went into Stan's mind to stop Bill. During that time, he taunted me and the others, and even shot a whole through my chest." I take a break from talking, to just adjust to all I've said. "Bill ended up finding the code to the safe but Mabel quickly shot it out of his grasp, making the code be destroyed by falling into a memory of The Bottomless Pit. Gideon then called off the deal because of that and Bill tried to kill us. We used Stan's mind to our advantage to stop Bill, but he soon stopped everything and told us that things were coming." I sigh, feeling a sickening sense in my stomach, my heart racing, and a gross taste in mouth, and right after I plop myself down onto the floor, immediately falling out of that sudden feeling of exhaustion and fear.

"I'm sorry Iris. I just don't like talking about him. Especially for such a long duration. I promise to tell you the rest some time later" I huff out, stroking my fingers through my hair, attempting to get the tangles out.

"Dipper, don't worry. It's alright" she seems to choke out, like she was holding her breath, looking down at the journal. "You can tell me the rest any time you think is appropriate. I understand that you have traumatic experiences with this demon…or...whatever he is." I sigh once more. "I think I might go to bed now" I state, standing up and stretching. Iris stands up as well. "Do you think that Mabel and Erin are still asleep?" she asks.

"I'm pretty sure they are. But before I go to sleep, I really need to clean up all the trash in the living room. I'd appreciate it if you'd help" I say, walking towards the doorway that goes to the rest of the attic.

"I was just about to ask" Iris says, as she follows me. I look back at the window with the Bill like art on it and I feel something in my eyes. Tears again? Why? He's nothing but trouble.

I quickly go down the stairs with Iris trailing behind.

 **(About 10 minutes later)**

I was surprised that Mabel and Erin were still asleep and even after us travelling back and forth, throwing the wrappers and bottles of Mabel Juice away. Sometimes I wonder what even gave Mabel the idea to create this stuff. Then again, I wonder a lot of things and barely get my questions answered. But the most important questions of mine were answered at least. I lift up my head to talk to Iris but she's not here. I guess she's in the kitchen throwing some wrappers away? I start walking to the kitchen to throw away the pile of wrappers that I have to look into the room and see Iris sleeping, leaning over the counter.

She fell asleep? Jeez, and she seemed so energetic before and when we first started cleaning up the place. But, then again, we're really close to being done anyways, so I guess I can do the rest. I'll let her rest, so I walk back into the living room, staying quiet as well to as said multiple times before to not wake my twin and the turquoise girl, while proceeding to finish up the cleaning. I look over at the sleeping girls to see how deeply they are in their little dreamscapes. Did I really just say "dreamscapes"?

This time, I'm not going to shake away the topic of Bill. I actually want to reflect about it now. Sometimes I wonder why he even manipulated me. He could have easily done the same to Mabel. IN FACT, she would have been an easier route to opening a portal to our world because of how naïve she was back then! Bill could have offered the existence of raining pancakes and she definitely would of agreed!

I just wonder, why me? Why did I HAVE to go through that trauma? Why didn't he just kill me or drive me to insanity when I found out about his plans and that I'd NEVER, and I mean NEVER make a deal with him again? I walk back to the kitchen and I look over at Iris sleeping and I see something hanging out of her sweater pocket. It looks familiar to me…

A glassy circle held on a fairly thick string. Wait. The monocle from the third journal…? Why does she have that? Did she steal it? If so, why? Ugh, too many questions! She has the monocle for a reason. I know it.

I go over to the sleeping teenager and I try and grab the monocle but right after, her eyes flutter open from her deep dreaming, and looks at me in confusion. "Dipper?" she said.

I'm basically frozen in fear at this point. I knew there was something strange about her. But, why would she want a useless part of the Journal…unless the monocle actually does something…

No! That's not possible! Ford would have definitely told me, right!?

There might be some things he hasn't told me…I wouldn't be surprised now that I think about it. There are still so many monsters from all the journals that I haven't encountered, whether or not encountering said creatures with a partner by my side. I start walking backwards away from Iris, slowly, still giving her a chance to say something. She looks around her surroundings and sees the monocle and looks back at me, to be met with my stern expression.

"Why were you trying to steal the monocle?" I ask on all elements of seriousness. She stutters for a minute with a genuine expression of confusion and fear. "I-I have no idea why I h-have this!" she says, taking the monocle out of her sweater pocket, and hanging it on her finger, trying to keep it away from her. "Yeah, sure you don't!" I yell at Iris. "You held the journal yourself and took it, didn't you!?" I conclude my question. "This is from that freaky journal?" she asks, fully standing up from her previous position of leaning on the counter.

"Then why did you have it!?" I yell again. Am I being too harsh on her? Her chances of convincing me that she DIDN'T steal the monocle are very slim, and with her reasoning, she isn't getting out of this.

"I-I don't know! I might have grabbed it by accident without knowing it? I REALLY don't know!" she yells back. She has a true look of sincerity. Maybe she isn't lying. 'Then HOW did it appear in your possession, huh you freak?!" I shouldn't have spoken.

…

We stay silent for what almost feels like forever, in which we wait for one of us to speak or at the very least move in some way. I just stand there, blankly looking at her, giving a one-thousand mile stare. I soon can't stand it anymore, I have to do something. I break free from my blank state and I sigh, stumbling back and leaning against the wall. I see form the corner of my ocular spheres that Iris is slowly creeping towards me. "Di-"

"Don't speak" I sneer at her, crossing me arms in anger, yet at the same time, holding my arms close in fear.

"I genuinely don't know how it got there, Dipper" she speaks after what feels like a million years of exile.

I stay in my current position for the moment, thinking and recapping what had just happened. It all occurred too fast. Why would she take it? I turn away from my thought bubble and I turn my head to the left, away from any sight of Iris. I feel as if I can't look at her after these quickly paced events. "Dipper, I'm sorry" she says, taking one step closer.

"Sorry for what!? You said you didn't take it, what do you HAVE to be sorry for!? Shouldn't I be the one apologizing if I'm so certainly wrong about my assumption?!" I scream back at her, uncrossing my arms and balling up my hands into sturdy fists. My position is steady and perfect in line with Iris', angering and fearfully looking at each other. "I'm sorry" she repeats.

"I'm sorry" she repeats again. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry I'M SORRY!" she yells on the final repeat, with a shaky voice.

"I didn't want to anger you…that's what I'm sorry for" I hear her protest. "I don't want you to see me as someone you can't trust. I don't want my image to you to boil because of something I couldn't control." Couldn't control? What could she POSSIBLY not control when it comes to taking something from another object that she legitimately held herself!?

"I don't want to be seen as a freak" she finalizes, with her voice still shaking, on the verge of crying. I fully look at her, to see her eyes glossy and her movements shaky. I guess I WAS too hard on her."I-" is the only thing I can choke out from my throat before I'm interrupted by her falling to her knees and speaking. "I'm sorry"

There's another moment of silence between us, shorter than before, as I quickly grasp the whole concept and I speak again. "Iris, stop this" I say, trying not to sound too stern and try to put sympathy within my sentence. "Just, stop this" I continue, kneeling down next to her, where she covers her face with her hands. "I forgive you, okay?" I say, reaching out to her to only come in contact with hair, as she backs her head away from me. "Iris, please, look at me" I demand, noticing the mean element of what I said, but it's too late to take it back now. "...please?"

"It hurts"

"…I know." _You've been going through some things without my knowledge, huh?_

Iris turns her head back and looks up. She stays quiet for a minute and then sighs. "I really am a freak, aren't I?" she questions, rationally, whipping off tears that are trying to escape.

"Iris, no. I-I'm sorry I made you upset. I shouldn't have pushed your buttons"

"Same to you" she replies, putting her arms down, in a position by her legs, still keeping herself away out of shame. She shouldn't be this hard on herself either.

"...I should have known your limits…" I said, getting back up. Come on, let's get some rest. We have only one day of school left until we reach our weekend."

She stays on the ground and just looks at me. "I'm sorry I over reacted. I just, have history with panic attacks" she says.

I sigh in slight annoyance of her repetitive attrition. "Never mind that. Let's just finish cleaning the living room before sun rise and we'll then sleep. Oh! And…" I claim, and then stopping my sentence and considering my words. SCREW IT, I think to myself. "I'll also make sure to tell you more about Bill Cipher, okay?"

After a moment of thinking, or supposedly, she stands up and smiles. "I know I've said this over a trillion times but, I'm sorr-"I cut her off."I know, I know" I aforementioned. "But in reality, you don't have to be sorry" I conclude our conversation. I'm glad we cleared this up. I'll try and stay more relatable and liking to Iris in our following experiences. I don't want to upset her again. And neither do I want to look down on her, for something she had no control over.

...how could she not have no control over taking the monocle, though? I DO so very believe her to every extent of her argument, yet...It sounds impossible.

I'll keep that in the pile of unsolvable mysteries for now.

* * *

 **(Mabel's POV)**

I wake up on the fluffy couch cushions that are present in the living room. I guess I fell asleep. I look over to my side and no one is there. I look to my other side and no one is there. Maybe they already left? As I drift away from my dreamland, I notice sunlight peaking through the small window on the front door and the curtains hung up over the window in the kitchen.

I guess I DID fall asleep. I quickly stretch out my muscles, ready to go and see where everyone is, and the first thing I do is look all throughout the room, in which I notice how every form of empty wrappers and soda cans are gone and thrown away. I look at the TV and it's turned off. I immediately hop out of the chair and I stick my two fingers through the VHS opening. Yep, the movie is gone as well.

I concluded that Dipper got everything clean and everything back into place. And I'm sure that Iris and Erin would have left to go home when I fell asleep? If not, maybe they left a lot later during the night. At least it's Friday, and they'll have enough time over the weekend to get back to their sleep schedule.

"Hey, Dipper?" I yell, but not too loud, but enough for someone in the attic to hear. After a few seconds, I still don't get a response. "He's GOT to be up there" I murmur to myself. I then go to walk up the stairs, and I can hear someone singing. I fully get up the stairs and I hear it from our double room. I roll my eyes, already having a pretty accurate summary of who is singing. I quickly burst open the door and yell "DISCO GIRL!" at the top of my lungs, not even having a sore throat after yelling that loud.

I then hear Dipper scream and then throw a piece of scrunched up paper at the doorway, towards me, in which I easily dodge. "M-Mabel!" he yells, hiding his embarrassment.

HA, GOT 'EM!

"Daaaw! I never knew you still liked listening to those types of songs!" I exclaim, squealing throughout all of my words. 'S-so what if I do!" he says, crossing his arms and making a pretty good impression of a fish. "It keeps me productive and holds me in motion of my current activity" he states, pointing down at the journal.

"What ARE you even doing to the journal?" I ask. "I was just putting the monocle back into its proper spot" he said proudly, uncrossing his arms, and closing the third Journal.

"The monocle just, y-you know, fell out when I was carrying it around and I found it in the kitchen. You know, just in case you were wondering" he says, keeping his cool even after me walking in on him singing. I must say, after going through puberty, which if you don't know is like being hit by a truck; his singing skills are pretty great. I'm sure he could swoon some girls with that voice of his nowadays! Anyways, back on topic.

"Sounds like a true story" I shrug, walking to my bed and pulling out a box from under my bed, full of blue sweaters. "Why-why wouldn't it be the true story?" he asks in confusion. "I don't know?" I shrug again, lifting up a blue sweater with a clown fish on it and another blue sweater with a pencil and paper on it. "Which sweater do you prefer?"

Dipper just rolls his eyes, and looks back at the journal, picking it up and putting it back under his mattress. Right before he walks out of the bedroom, as I just now notice that he is fully dressed and ready for school, he points at the clown fish sweater. "Thanks, Nacho-Dip!" He just walks out of the room and goes down the stairs.

I remind myself that it's Friday and that we have our weekend standing right in front of us. This hypes up my personality, making me quickly get dressed and throw my popcorn sweater that I wore last night into another pile of clothing. I quickly run out of the room and run down the stairs. "I'M READY FOR TODAY!"

I just hear Dipper laugh at my shout. "Yeah, yeah, okay Mabel!"

Nothing can go wrong, _can it?_

* * *

 **(Third person POV)**

 _"I'm warning you about this, right now!"_ the voice yells at the teenager.

"I'm not in any way getting close to him! You watched it yourself and can read my mind! It was manipulation!" another voice yells back at the male voice.

 _"Well, if you say so, I'm glad that you're getting that manipulative part from me. And if not"_ the male voice stops and the voice turns demonic. _"YOU'LL REGRET THAT YOU HAD THE OPTION TO PICK UP WHERE YOU LEFT OFF! ONE SENSELESS MOLECULE WILL BE YOUR FINAL FORM IF YOU DISOBEY ME!"_ the voice continues with.

The second voice makes a noise of fright at the sudden voice change. "I'm sorry."

 _"Sorry? For what?"_ the first voice questions.

"O-oh…for making you….angry"

 _"Well, I like how you have feelings of concern for me. Anyways, just don't grow close to them!"_ the male voice finalizing, in which sounds of footsteps can be heard, getting quieter by the second.

"…I won't.

We made a deal after all"

The voices fades.

* * *

 **Author's Notes: WOOOO! This chapter was posted early! Now that my friend and I have a pretty stable schedule of posting as we post one chapter while in mid-process of working on the chapter after, we'll be able to maybe post multiple chapters in one week! Anyways, we hope you enjoyed this one! And yes, Iris has a history of panic attacks and anxiety when in situations that basically corner her, defenseless.**

 **Anyways,**

 **REAILTY IS AN ILLUSION**

 **THE UNIVERSE IS A HOLOGRAM**

 **BUY GOLD, BYE PEOPLES!**


	3. Chapter 3: The Calm Before The Storm

**Chapter 3: The Calm Before The Storm**

* * *

 **Author's Notes: Once again, many people viewed this story along with Chapter 2, which truly gives my friend and I hopes for the future when it comes to this story! Thank you all! I kind of feel as if we rushed this chapter and that it doesn't really matter, but if you read it anyways and appreciate our lazy work, thank you! This chapter is kind of filler and just bonding and plans for the next chapter, and as said by the chapter name, something is coming….. Other than that, enjoy!**

* * *

 **(Dipper's POV)**

Quickly, I set my backpack down, right next to my desk as we are expected to and I sit down as fast as I can, still trying to catch my breath. I was almost late for my third class due to our bus arriving to the campus surprisingly later than when school had begun, and so I had to run to the next class once we were dropped off. You'd imagine that if the school gets a message about one of the buses running late, specifically our bus and they DID get a message in my situation, that they would let those students on the late bus have a pass on arriving for class later than expected, but NOPE, apparently this school doesn't apply to that? That's one flaw of this high-school's system or really the county's system in general. So Mabel and I had to skip two class periods due to such a late bus. Hopefully they don't shove work in our faces once we both attend our first two classes normally after this "mishap".

I still have no possible idea of why it was running late, but I just concluded that the driver was slacking off and not getting to doing his job on time. This is Gravity Falls after all and it is very well known for having screw ups. Not that everyone is a failure of some sort; there are just a lot of people with more flaws than positive ideals to themselves.

If for some reason you've already heard of my family and I, due to saving the world from Weirdmageddon back 4 years ago, then you'd know that my family and a bunch of the friends I have are successors.

I'm very intelligent and I give the most possible answer to occur, in which I am very interested in mysteries, which is the same for one of my family members, Stanford Pines. After those 4 years, my other great uncle, Stanley Pines, Ford's twin, adventured with him across the ocean to study different anomalies in which it gave him fame, aside from being the retired owner of the Mystery Shack. One of my friends who used to work at the Mystery Shack, let's just call him by what we usually call him, Soos, ended up becoming the new manager after Stanley retired, and he works with his girlfriend Melody and runs the Shack now, giving them fame.

As for my old love interest…, Wendy, she got into a lumberjack business and as previously stated, she gained fame for that with her 3 brothers and father.

Mabel, she has multiple talents. I won't list them all but, she can definitely bring people together, if that's even a talent of some sort, and she's much of a problem solver like me as well. She can easily make sweaters, and she has an amazing eye for design. To top it all off, more than mentioned and all mentioned just seconds ago helped defeat our threat back during a dream demon's reign. I can't even begin to take in how our futures formed into this all the way from the aftermath of some insane apocalypse.

I do believe that everyone else in this town has potential, it's just they seem to prefer flaw over fame. And there's nothing wrong with that. Having no flaws wouldn't make you human.

But it isn't the best thing in the multi-verse to embrace your fuck ups, excuse my language. I just have a strong belief that you can always let your negatives affect yourself AND others too much. Like the bus incident, even though it WAS just a small thing that I was definitely over exaggerating here in my thoughts. Oh, and trust me, there are certainly more flaws about this place, specifically the school. The food isn't that bad, but what they do with, it is pretty disgusting. They'll legitimately take the leftovers from about a week ago and they'll serve it again. I thought that my previous school food was weird but THIS, just wow. I don't even really eat around the lunch area of time in the day anymore, especially ever since our first summer visit, so I'm used to it. I think I'll just stick with hanging out with Mabel while she eats during our lunch time.

I'm immediately dragged away from my self-discourse as I hear roll-call going on in my science class, as expected, the one I am in right now. Right as calls out my name, I say "Here" as we are expected to. Thank god I fell out of thought right before she called my name. I definitely didn't need my name to be called about thirty times and THEN I say "Here" as a casual response. If you couldn't tell, I'm trying to keep a decent reputation. I don't need to be seen as an idiot on day 2.

then tells us to reach under our desk and pull out the papers we were doing yesterday, along with our study book, and so all of us did. To be honest, this is probably my favorite class because of how everyone does as told and they never seem to have a single spark of an idea to disobey commands. Talk about loyalty.

I sigh as I start reading the page that we were told to return to in our study book. As said, I like this class because it's calm but sometimes I dislike it because it's a bit too independent. There never seems to be any interaction between us, the students. I DO like being independent, but I DID say that it was too alone based. I'd imagine that we'd have some form of group assignments, but I went onto my progress book and looked at all the future assignments and EVERY one of them are set under "Single", meaning that there aren't any partner assignments. It's simply just…single student work.

When I saw that, I was certainly disappointed, and mainly why is because, I'm pretty sure I've mentioned it, but I have Mabel in my third class, the one I'm in now and due to every assignment being a "by yourself" assignment, I won't be able to work with her. Yet again, I can still talk to her during the beginning of class and near the end as well.

As our teacher starts talking, I'm still ranting about my schedule and primarily this class within my head, in which my thoughts cloud out the noise coming from my teacher. I don't really mind, as she always recaps what we've learned on the school website on the classroom blogs, so I can basically have my third class lesson back at the Shack. I look out the perfectly clean window as she talks, still thinking and trying to blur out her talking. As I stare out the window, I notice something move outside. My desk is near the window, so I can see the majority of whatever is moving out there. I squint my eyelids to focus more on the movements. I can't exactly tell what is over near that area of the forest, but something is telling me to look away. Not something with a voice, but just an urge. A nerve. Like it's a hazard to know what happens next.

I can't help but fall into the mysterious urge and I look away. I'm just being paranoid again. This town may have done things to me, but I know it shouldn't ruin my image entirely upon this place. Sure, it has negatives, but it also has positives that over ride said negatives, especially since that "Oddpocalypse" ended, or "Weirdmageddon". Whatever you want to name it.

Speaking of Weirdmageddon, my mind ends up trailing down a path of thinking about Bill. I wonder what would have happened if we gave him a second chance…as if it was possible.

What if he turned over a new leaf…? He'd never use the chance to be good.

I highly doubt it, and if you had the experiences I had with him, you'd agree that he would have a really low chance of joining our side. The entirety of this town would agree. I just wish he wouldn't take advantage of everything that is given to him. Just imagine the good he could have done if he put other's needs in front of his own and helped them with true sincerity. With no tricks to go with his deals.

Those deals of his are the main problem. He just…never helps someone genuinely. But would he still do the same tricks if he didn't have plans of taking over a dimension, like he said? I think he would still make deals like that just to mess with people and rise above everyone. Jeez, it sounds like I'm giving constructive criticism on his personality.

As I am rambling in my mind, something comes to me. Something I've disregarded for so long.

The Axolotl.

The memory of the Axolotl starts flooding my thoughts. I now remember what it said.

 _"Sixty degrees that come in threes._

 _Watches from within birch trees._

 _Saw his own dimension burn._

 _Misses home and can't return._

 _Says he's happy. He's a liar._

 _Blame the arson for the fire._

 _If he wants to shrik the blame._

 _He'll have to invoke my name._

 _One way to absolve his crime._

 _A different form. A different time."_

Misses home and can't return…

I never really took time to go back to what the Axolotl said. If you don't know what I'm talking about, Mabel and I encountered some all powerful creature called "The Axolotl" and it gave us one wish. Mabel wasted it on knowing what creature it is, expressing her often stupidity and asked if it was a 'Salamander', but I asked if it knew anything about Bill. And the poem is what it responded with. I just didn't know what it meant back when I was told, and I threw it away along with all the other unknown cryptic messages I've come across. Now that I've thought about it…Bill is broken.

He misses home.

He can't return.

He burnt down his own dimension…

But why?

WHY?!

Why would he destroy it? What could possibly drive him off the edge? He seems like he was always happy, but, NOPE, apparently NOT. He was different back before, wasn't he?... Something screwed him up. Yes. Definitely. Absolutely. _Damnit Mabel, you're getting to me now_ , I curse to myself.

But what? What did it? And….

I'm immediately in shock as I come up with the most likely conclusion. _A different form. A different time._

He's going to return…

No! NO! I can't do this again! Please, something or someone, tell me that The Axolotl can be wrong! I can't deal with him again! I can't have him torturing everyone for a second time! One time was enough! I mentally sigh. I need to calm myself down. I can't let these past things ruin me even after 4 years. 4 years and he hasn't returned in any form…

But, if he does return…

My thoughts are screaming at each other, arguing, tearing each other down, denying at each other's assumptions, only wanting an answer that benefits me and that ensures my protection. _But…he CAN come back. He WILL come back. He shouldn't have been so easily defeated…_

I'm now mentally scolding myself for thinking we were always safe.

When he does return…

 _Dipper._

I'll be too weak.

 _DIPPER._

BILL.

"Mason "Dipper" Pines, answer me!" I hear a woman yell. I feel my eyes widen and my pupils shrink and shake at my name, or accurately, my real name, nickname, and last name strictly called by a dry sounding voice. I whip my head up and forward away from the window to see looking at me with her arms crossed, with probably the most angered expression I've ever laid my eyes upon, _which scared the hell out of me when I first saw it,_ along with every student looking at me with confusion. Hey, at least they aren't laughing or at the very least whispering about me.

"Y-yes, mam?" I ask, trying to ask her formally. "Are you going to pay attention, now?" she squawks with her raspy voice. I rapidly blink, trying to catch back up to reality. "I-I, yes, I'm sorry, I just-" I'm cut off.

"You what?" she says, still giving me a death stare. Over the couple of seconds, students go back to reading. "I'm sorry, I was just daydreaming"

"Well, try and keep your imagination stable, okay? You're at work right now" she says, softening her voice. At least she can let things go. then lays her arms at her sides and walks back to her rectangular desk and sits back down, continuing to grade our small recap assignments and work from yesterday.

I sigh in relief and try and push away every thought about what happened. Gosh, did she really have to attract the attention of every student in this god damn room? Talk about being inconsiderate and rude.. Good job Dipper, you almost got yourself killed. Well, not actually. I'm just over exaggerating and complaining at this point.

Like I always do.

 _Just focus._

* * *

 _ **(between two class periods)**_

I feel as if I'd have a lot of more support if I put others down like most school stereotypes do. Then again, I despise the idea of being such an attention whore. Putting others down for your benefit is just, well, WRONG! It's just so obvious that it isn't right to put yourself on a fucking pedal stool to be more IMPORTANT, and it's unbelievable how so many people never get the idea that it's for the better to dispose of the thought to put yourself in front.

 _Gosh, I have a rambling problem. I legit almost got like, what, a detention or some bullcrap?_ Or at least that's what it seemed to be, for the aftermath of what happened back there. At least I'm not getting into any real problems. Another goal for this school year besides reputation is not causing or being involved in a catastrophe.

I am once again trying to squirm myself through the crowded hallways, as I had the same experience yesterday, full of diverse people. I understand that this school has many students but you'd imagine that they'd make in between times for getting to your next period different for every grade, mainly so that the halls aren't so crowded like the situation I am currently in, right? But as obviously concluded, they don't give a shit. I tighten my grip on my backpack straps as almost every student that steps by me pushes me aside, meaningfully. I start getting annoyed but their actions.

I don't want to get into some drama but these kids are REALLY punching the heck out of my buttons. To think that hormones can cause such a bitchy personality. I feel someone grab onto my shoulder right after I'm shoved multiple times, and due to my current mood, it felt like a jerky grab, trying to get my attention to annoy me even more. I ball up my fists in frustration and I snap my head to look at the person and I jerk my arm away, making their hand slide off of my shoulder, and I yell, "WHAT?!" but to automatically change my mood to concern from anger as I see who had grabbed my shoulder. The two of us exchanged glances for a moment that seemed to take longer than an actual 2 to 3 seconds, in which it had finally hit me in the head like a baseball bat that I screwed up.

"P-Pacifica!? Pacifica, I'm so sorry, I ju-", I hesitate, stuttering for the majority of the words I spew out. I am quickly interrupted by the blond.

"Dipper, it's fine. I know that these students are highly annoying" she says, keeping a calm tone and giving off her bright smile. "I literally just saw you get pushed like, what, 7 times in a row?" Thank goodness it was her. Both because it wasn't someone who wanted to have a quarrel with me and that she is very calm and knows how I'd react in certain situations. And I'm thankful for her being able to conclude the way I act and relate. "Thanks Pacifica...I-I'm sorry that I yelled. Let's just change the topic so I don't stay so disoriented" I huff out, glaring down at the ground in embarrassment.

"It's fine. Your actions were fully justified" I hear her object, as I look back up at her. At least _someone_ thinks that my reactions are well fit for the current situations I'm imputed into. I think of what to say, not wanting the conversation to turn awkward, and I immediately ask her, "Are you doing anything over the weekend?" As claimed multiple times before, it was Friday already in which we had a short first week of school, so we have our two days off right in front of us. We start walking down the hallway, together, as we both have already remembered that our 4th classes are close to each other, as in where their rooms are, so we have the perfect option to walk as a pair. Yet again, that doesn't change how everyone bumps into you purposely to motion how 'They're superior'.

"I was actually going to ask the same thing" she laughs. "But, no, I'm not, and by what you've just said I'm guessing it's the same scenario for you?" she asks as well.

"Y-yeah, it certainly is. I was thinking that maybe you wanted to hang out with Mabel and I over at the Shack, maybe go out to the town and have fun, something like that?" I confidently question, showing off an abnormal amount of courage from myself, like I'm all the sudden comfortable. Hopefully it doesn't seem like denial and pushing away out previous incident. She then smiles again and replies. "That sounds great! I'd think that Mabel can easily think of something for the 3 of us to do, right?" she questions me as well as her response to my previous asking. I'm automatically reminded about the two girls we had met yesterday. Maybe I should invite them?

"Y-yeah, um, I'm sure she can. And, our group might be more than 3 people" I quickly state, wanting her approval and answer as quickly as possible, not wishing to have the anxiety of not knowing her answer to stick to my chest for the entirety of my next class subject. That IS if she doesn't tell me in time. "Sounds like a plan."

"Huh?" I blurt out, confused. I didn't think she'd be fine with that. "If it's about 8 people, then I'm perfectly fine with it" she claims. So, me, Mabel, Pacifica, and possibly Iris and Erin. Maybe even Candy and Grenda, that perfectly adds up to 7, just one under her comfort limit! Perhaps I can get them all together..?

"Oh! Sounds good!" I laugh out. "But remember, the number might change as I haven't asked the expected guests yet" I conclude my statement, as we both arrive to the hallway in which our 4th class is present. She quickly nods and walks into her classroom, in which I hear her greeted by many people. Looks like she still has quite the following.

I do the same, and sigh in relief. That went well. And no sarcasm intended.

* * *

 ** _(final period)_**

I swipe up my backpack and immediately run out of the classroom, speeding through the halls, taking the place as the asshole, as I keep on bumping into multiple people, annoying them like a lot of them did earlier, knowingly and with intention. I didn't meaningly do it, trust me, I had no goal at all, but hey, it happened, and I got my "revenge."

Why I was running to my destination instead of walking? Well, yes, the weekend was near! Only one class period left and that's only the simplest class imaginable. Language Arts. My other classes after my talk with Pacifica and other people who may or may not join us for the outing tomorrow, went pretty smoothly. On an unrelated topic though, I still haven't quite grasped the concept of still having classes around the subject of Reading and English and as said, language arts though, in which I am PRETTY sure that you wouldn't have reached high school if you didn't know how to write things close to perfection or at the very least, of an average range with not errors in grammar, spelling, punctuation, even though there is a bit of an exception for spelling. Words are all different.

Off of the topic of 'language arts', I had previously asked Erin if she was up for hanging out with us, perhaps for a night out on the town or just chilling, and she happily agreed. I also asked Iris but, something was off with her mood. Her emotions were stall and acted as if she wanted things to be over with, as quickly as possible, gifting her enough time to herself. Like she had somewhere to be, more important then her advanced classes. Yesterday, she mentioned how they recap what they learned the previous year on the first day for advanced students, but the first day has passed and she now REALLY needs to focus. Heck, she even seemed stress yesterday night while watching Erin's rented movie. I don't even think that she was listening or at all, focusing on the plot of it. Maybe her classes are stressing her out?

Seems like something you would do when stressed. Not being able to focus on things is a 'symptom' of stress or however you wish to word it. Isn't it a bit harsh to use 'symptom' as to express an action of hers out of, simple stress or anxiety of perhaps the beginning of actually going through school? It makes it seem like a serious thing. I mean, she isn't suicidal or anything. Most definitely not.

It IS highly possible that she's just struggling with her advanced classes and that's why she appears to be thinking so hard. She did agree to come with us tomorrow though, but, she seems too pressured when answering. I even stated that I didn't want to force her into going with us, yet she hesitated every time I would object my own request.

I guess I'll ask her….At the end of the school day, that is. Hopefully she is okay, as she states.

The hall that I was sprinting through, in which I slowed down my running as I became tired, began to clear up until it was entirely empty. I was currently the only one there, now walking rather than running as of previously. I can finally walk to my class without getting shoved around. I take in a deep breath to get my breathing on a normal rate, but I'm immediately hit with a whiff of smoke, interrupting my attempt to get some fresh air. I start coughing and covering my mouth. Why the hell do I smell smoke!?

It feels as if it goes on for about even a minute, but the majority of the scent goes away right when I feel as if I can't take in tiny breaths anymore. I uncover my mouth and nose to notice some remnants from the previous blast of smoke. _I swear, if someone is smoking in here, I'm just-_

I stop myself from finishing my thoughts, as I notice where it is coming from. Seeping through the opened cracks of the door. Hey at least it isn't from inside. But then again, you shouldn't be smoking at all! That IS if someone is smoking. I walk to the double door next to a sealed window in which I had smelled the smoky scent. I take one small breath, thankfully not invested with smoke. I breathe out my fairly large intake of air and I burst through the door. "OKAY, WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON HE-"I stop my own sentence once again, as my eyes widen, once my pupils wonder over to the figure. I then fully turn to see who was in my line of sight.

"Heh, sup dude" I hear the voice chuckle with its identical tone, which expresses being chill with every word . I let go off my firmly balled up fists in shock, and as well as relief of who it was.

"Wendy?" I ask, surprisingly in a casual manner, as much as I wished it came out as a surprise. I don't want her to get the wrong message and think that I was disappointed or not at all enthusiastic about seeing her again. I'm sure that I am looking way out of context.

"Yeah?" she asks rationally, assuring that it was her. She stands up from her previous position of kneeling down next to a pipe that trails along the side of the window. What was she doing? I want to ask her that, but I'm too excited about seeing her again to really get onto that topic and stick with it. It would just be blocked out with my excitement in which I probably wouldn't go back to this situation I've 'caught' her in, if I were to as mentioned let my happiness get the best of me and make me blurt out statements of joy. She doesn't seem to have changed a bit in appearance, but her fashion sense has gone from her green flannel to a red flannel, but that's not a big change to really put my attention to.

"Wh-why are you here!?" I ask, hearing my voice crack a bit. Probably out of my happiness, as I am pretty sure that my voice cracking every now and then has stopped, mainly because I am metaphorically crawling my way out of puberty hell. Mabel once told me that she talked with Wendy, and she told her that when you grow up, that your body goes against you, and I can agree to the fullest extent. She then continues, pulling me out of my dreaming state.

"Well, as of being around the school, I'm here because I'm attending here" she says, with her voice, expressing how sly she is with every word that pops out from her lips.

"Wait, but.." the realization comes to me. Isn't she 19 right now? God, I should have remembered the age calculations! She shouldn't be attending this place, yet….she just said that she is going to this high school. I'd think that by now, she would have gone by her dreams and would've started living in Portland because she would have graduated, like she's mentioned multiple times to me over the course of our previous visits. Then, wouldn't the same apply to her friends I saw here yesterday?

"Aren't you 19?" I ask exactly as of my previous thoughts. She right after my claim, nods her head and then speaks out her response, even though she already answered my question. "You're wondering why I'm 19 in 12th grade, huh?" she asks me, practically reading my mind, along with a cocky and eager smirk, perhaps the eager part because of her wanting to tell me something of why this was the case and the cocky part of it just being her personality. I nod my head as well the same way she did before to answer my question.

"Well, let's just say that I got held back" she casually states, like it's not a big deal, and, obviously, at least in my eyes, that IS a big deal! "H-held back!?' I ask in panic. It may be her life and her decisions, but I don't want her getting bad grades and being held in a grade because of something! Or, maybe even some things. Multiple. I ought to ask why. Before I can ask, she answers my exact wonder.

She gestures during her talking. "Tambry, Robbie, Nate, Lee, and Thompson, the ones you all know, along with me as you should've concluded" she states, poking out a finger for every person mentioned. "Ended up getting held back. I was held back into 12th grade, meaning that I was supposed to be 1 year out of school by that time and by now, but despite all of my friends mentioned being older than me, they all got put BACK into 12th grade, going to this high school to "get the same punishment" as me, at least that's what they said, despite their ages and when they graduated. And, I mean, we DID commit our crime together, so, it's kind of reasonable? But confusing."

Yesh, sounds pretty complicated to me. Imagine getting out of school, spending a fair amount of time as an adult and then BOOM, back into your last year. Pretty mind twisting just to comprehend the whole thing at first glance. "So, then, that means you'll be going to this high school, along with Mabel and I, for the rest of this year?" I ask, trying to hide my excitement. In general, it should and probably does sound awful to be happy about many of your friends being held back in basically they're final place before getting to the real world because they'll be with you for another school year.

Sounds kind of cruel to be happy about and accept your friends going through the suffering of school again just so you're with them. Then again, they already know all this stuff so they'll pass 12th grade without a sweat, meaning they won't be stressed all the time as I thought they would. Another questions dawn on me. What crime did they commit?

"What did you and your friends do?" I ask, stealing a glance at what Wendy seemed to be setting up near the pipes. Don't tell me she's committing more crimes! "Oh, we ended up exploding a car in a parking lot" she once again casually states, as if it doesn't matter in the ling run.

"What do you mean 'ended up'!?"

"I know, I know, dude. We did it on our own with all of our common sense and selves intact. It wasn't under the influence" she objects.

"Promise me, you won't do it again." I boldly state, sounding like a parent towards the red-head. She rolls her eyes. "Yes mom" she sarcastically states, chuckling right after and picking up her backpack from the ground, in which I just noticed she had it with her. I laugh with her as well, hiding my blushes of embarrassment for seeming so concerned and acting like, as stated, a parent to her. At least things aren't awkward between us anymore. I glance down at the pipes once more that she seemed to be tampering with again, and I ask her "What are you doing with the pipes?"

"Oh, heh, it's a surprise."

"A bad surprise?"

"Nope."

"Surprise for who and why?"

"For you and Mabel, and because you've returned" she concludes.

Right after our quick talk, I comprehend what she stated. She's planning something huh…? I still don't understand why it involves smoke or… burning open the pipes, as I immediately take notice of. "And no, I won't give you hints to study and have a full on investigation, you dork" she pats me on the head and puts her hat back on. I smile back at her. "Heh, I wasn't going to even ask but, hey, thanks for telling me" I state.

We take a moment to look at each other and mentally thank the world for making us meet again. I snap out of my dreamy state as I hear a loud, ringing bell. CRAP, I'M- "LATE!' I immediately blurt out, finishing my thought as in real verbal words, spoken from my throat. I quickly run through the door, back into the school and I shout. "WENDY, MEET ME AT THE SHACK TONIGHT!" I don't think she fully heard me, as my voice probably faded away but I heard her yell back with an agreement. I dash into my classroom to see no one there.

Just an open door.

Lights off.

No one present.

AW SHIT, WE'RE IN THE COMPUTER LAB TODAY!

I continue cursing to myself, mainly because of my stupidity as I then run up the stairs towards where my class was present. No other thoughts now! No Wendy, no tomorrow plans, no Iris! Just run!

* * *

 _ **(...)**_

 _Date: September 2nd 2016._

 _Classes are easy._

 _Nothing can go wrong._

 _They can't interfere._

 _Yet, this has been going on for too long._

 _._

 _The conclusion is still coming_

 _Yet it's so far away._

 _At least I have time though._

 _To persuade and say,_

 _._

 _'Your choices seem limited,_

 _And they say the same for you_

 _You are wary of me._

 _It's what you shouldn't do._

 _._

 _You can trust me._

 _You can like me too._

 _You can stay there, though,_

 _And never get through._

 _._

 _I'm here to help._

 _To gift you a throne._

 _To caress you with hope,_

 _And break him from stone._

 _._

 _You can trust me and,_

 _You have all rights to love me_

 _Just remember, though,_

 _You are more than what they see.'_

 _._

 _Revisit all my claims, and remember,_

 _You think and are so very torn._

 _But soon, it will change and stay that way._

 _The calm before the **storm.**_

 _…_

* * *

 **Author's Notes: UM, HEH, EXCUSE OUR SHITTY POEM SKILLS, but hey, we tried :3**

 **Nothing much to say here as everything has basically been summed up in the first A/N so, yeah, hope you enjoyed this chapter that to us seemed lazily crafted together, and please do comment if you have any criticism, general comments, even theories.**

 **Anyways, REALITY IS AN ILLUSION THE UNIVERSE IS A HOLLAGRAM BUY GOLD, BYE PEOPLES!**


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